Of Braids and Beauties
by RonaldAndMione
Summary: Ron and Hermione share some special moments together during their first night at Grimmauld Place. Set in DH.


**Of Braids and Beauties**

**Rating: K+**

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><p><strong>Thanks for your reviews for 'Crumb' :) I really appreciate it. The writing wasn't meant to be centered, sorry.<strong>

**(MUCH longer A/N at the end of story, and I'd rather you read the story than the A/N so I have put the story first.)**

Ron glanced up as Hermione walked back into the sitting room. One side of her too big PJ t-shirt was sliding down off her shoulder, and Ron saw her collarbone and pale shoulder. Ron longed to reach over and touch it, it looked so soft, and Ron had to grip the back of the now cushion less sofa to restrain himself from standing up and walking over to snog her senseless.

Instead, Hermione was now walking over to him, and Ron realised he was sitting on her makeshift bed - her sleeping bag on top of the sofa cushions Ron had placed for her. Ron quickly stood up so he didn't interfere with what she was doing. Hermione reached over to grab her beaded bag, and put her toothbrush in wordlessly. _It must have been hard_, Ron thought, _brushing her teeth_. Her parents were dentists after all; she must have associated brushing with them.

Ron watched her hair fall around her face as she leaned over her bag. Today, her hair had been beautifully shiny and tame. It was a change, a nice change though. However, Ron knew he would always love Hermione's bushy hair best.

Hermione straightened up and gave Ron his red toothbrush. Ron took it from her and walked across the room to the door. Harry was sitting beside it, leaning against the wall, staring at the golden snitch in his hand silently. Ron gave him a small smile in acknowledgement and walked out of the room.

He returned a few minutes later, to find Harry still studying the snitch, but Hermione now sitting on her 'mattress' leaning against the couch behind her, trying to braid her hair. Ron knew what she was trying to do. She had explained it to him once in fifth year. When her hair was sleek, she preferred to braid it and sleep on it, so that the next day, it wouldn't be as bushy.

Except now, Hermione's hair was so sleek it slipped out of her fingers. She couldn't get a good grasp on it from behind. She needed someone to do it for her.

So Ron, who had always wanted to feel her hair underneath his fingertips, suddenly blurted out, "Want some help?" Ron felt the tips of his ears turn pink.

Hermione released her pathetic hold of her hair and smiled at him gratefully, making Ron go slightly weak in the knees. "Thank you," she said softly. She shuffled forward from the couch, and Ron walked over to sit on it. It was rather uncomfortable, as there were no cushions on it; however Ron didn't really give a rats fart about that. He would now be able to _feel Hermione's hair._

As soon as Hermione spotted Ron was in as comfortable a position as he could be, she shuffled back, leaning her back against the couch, sitting in between Ron's legs. Ron gulped and took a deep breath. _This is it_, he said to himself, _all these years of dreaming of how it would feel and you finally get a chance. Don't stuff it up. _Merlin_ don't stuff it up_!

Ron tentatively reached forward and held a lock of hair in her hands. It felt soft and smooth in his grasp. He let his fingers softly stroke it, and he took in a deep breath once more, inhaling her hair's beautiful scent. He closed his eyes to concentrate on the feel of it. Then he heard a sigh, Hermione's sigh, and realised that he was meant to be doing a job. Ron opened his eyes hurriedly, and saw Harry smirking at him. Ron glared at him, sucessfully refraining from making a rude hand gesture at him, and then looked back at Hermione's hair. His face immediately softened as he let his other hand feel her hair.

He held onto her hair as he parted it into three sections. Suddenly he had a flashback of when he was little, about 8. The floor of Grimmauld Place changed to the grass of the Burrow's garden, and Hermione's brown hair changed into Ginny's deep red. He could hear seven-year-old Ginny's laughter as she called out "Gently, Ron! It hurts!"

And suddenly, Grimmauld Place appeared once more. Ginny's hair was now Hermione's. Ron didn't really want to take sides, but personally, he liked Hermione's hair much better. However, the flashback of his home, of his family, made Ron's stomach twist painfully. He hoped they were OK, that nothing horrible had happened to them. His father's patronus had assured them they were fine, but Ron still felt unsettled knowing he wasn't near them and couldn't help them.

Ron let the left section cross over the middle section, and then the right section over the now middle section. _One cross done_, Ron thought. He wanted to make this moment last forever, but knew that he had to speed things up a little, otherwise Hermione would wonder what was taking him so long. Ron couldn't very well answer "Sorry, just admiring the feel of your hair, seeing as I've kind of wanted to touch it for several years."

Ron quickly got another cross done. He heard Hermione sigh once more. And then she spoke.

"How do you know how to braid so well? It doesn't hurt at all."

Ron smiled secretly to himself. _Way to go Weasley_, Ron thought. "Oh, 's nothing really," he said offhandedly. "I used to braid Ginny's hair when I was younger. Got a bit of practice. Your hair is trickier though. Despite the potion you used, it's becoming bushy again, and thicker than Ginny's."

Hermione let out a small laugh. "This bushy hair can really annoy me at times."

"It shouldn't, I think it's quite nice." Ron blurted out without thinking, and then turned red. _Think before you speak!_

Hermione was quiet for a few moments, before saying in a voice so soft Ron almost didn't hear it, "Thank you, Ron."

Ron did another cross before uttering in the same tone, "You're welcome."

It was over far too soon. "I'm done," Ron said, and he hoped that Hermione didn't spot the disappointed tone in his voice. Hermione shuffled forward to allow Ron to get up. Ron stood up and stretched. Hermione patted her braid tenderly.

"Thanks, Ron, it's wonderful." She said, standing up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. The spot her lips touched tingled.

"No problem," Ron whispered; his heart pounding wildly.

Hermione smiled and turned to Harry, who was still sitting, smirking, up against the wall, eyeing the snitch. "I think we should all go to sleep now. It's been a tough day."

Harry stood up and stretched too. "Tell me about it," he said, rolling his eyes. He leaned down and crawled into his sleeping bag, and turned to face the door. Ron knew it was so he wouldn't have his back to possible intruders.

Ron shuffled into his sleeping bag, and saw Hermione do the same. Ron lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He heard Hermione and Harry shift positions in their sleeping bags. None of them could sleep.

After a long, long time, he heard Harry's snores. Ron, however, simply couldn't sleep. He turned over to his side, facing Hermione and was surprised to find Hermione's eyes wide open, facing him.

"Hermione?" Ron whispered. "I thought you were asleep."

"Not much chance of that," Hermione whispered back. Ron smiled sympathetically. The window behind her was closed, yet the curtains open. The moonlight shone through, and Hermione's silhouette was just above his. Ron had known this would be the case, and specifically made it that way so that he could see her and make sure she was alright. It also helped that the moonlight made Hermione absolutely positively breathtaking… or at least, more so.

"Everything all right?" Ron asked, remembering that chapter 1 of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches said girls liked to talk about their problems. "You want to… talk about it?"

Hermione let out a soft laugh. Ron couldn't help but grin and mentally pat himself on the back. "You probably want to go to sleep." She replied.

"I do want to, but can't. Same as you." Ron told her.

Hermione smiled back. They lay in silence, watching each other, until finally Hermione spoke. "One thing that always helped me when I was younger, was when my mum or dad would tell me a story."

"I'm surprised you didn't read them yourself." Ron chuckled.

"Oh, I did," Hermione laughed. "But there was something special about being read to, by your parents. It was… it was great." She sighed softly.

"I remember that when I was 3, there were these rare times that my mum would come up to my room and sit with me," Ron told Hermione, "and she would just talk to me, ask how I am, and then, before I went to sleep, she would tell me a story. That was pretty much the longest she would spend just with me. The rest of the time she was either cooking or being with Ginny." Ron took a deep breath. "I think I liked it so much because… those were the rare times… I felt important."

"You are!" Hermione exclaimed, much too loudly. Ron raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed quietly. "You are, Ron," she said softly once more. "You really are. You're just as important as anyone, if not, more."

Ron snorted, even though he couldn't help smiling at Hermione's praise. "Sure. I highly doubt that. I don't see it."

"_You_ might not," Hermione said softly, "but I do."

Ron stared at her silently. She was smiling at him, looking back into his eyes. "Thanks Hermione," Ron whispered.

Hermione's smile grew wider. "You're welcome."

Once again, they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Tell me a story 'Mione." Ron blurted out.

"What?" Hermione whispered.

"I want to hear a Muggle story." Ron explained. "Would you mind telling me one? It may help you fall asleep, I know it'll help me."

Hermione smiled, "Okay." She took a deep breath. "Any you want to hear?"

"Name a few." Ron said.

"Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk—"

The way Hermione uttered 'Sleeping Beauty' made Ron want to hear it. She sounded enthralled by it, and it made Ron intrigued. "Sleeping Beauty." Ron spoke.

Hermione smiled widely, and Ron knew he made the right choice.

"Once upon a time," Hermione began, "in a beautiful kingdom, lived a king and queen, who had just given birth to a baby girl. Upon her christening, all the fairies were invited, except one—"

"Why didn't they invite one?" Ron asked.

"Her invitation got lost." Hermione explained. "She was so angry at that, that she stormed into the ceremony, where the fairies were bestowing gifts to the princess. Gifts such as beauty, intelligence, talent, were given, and there was one last invited fairy yet to give her gift when the uninvited fairy crashed the event. Enraged and furious, she cast a spell that on her sixteenth birthday she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel—"

"My dad showed me one of those one time." Ron commented.

"And she would die," Hermione said. "The final good fairy changed it so that she and the rest of the kingdom would just fall into a deep sleep until her true love would kiss her."

"That's pointless. Why couldn't she just lift the curse off her completely?" Ron protested.

"It was too powerful." Hermione answered. "So anyway, the girl does prick her finger on a spindle. The whole kingdom falls asleep. A prince comes riding by and, hearing of the story of the sleeping beauty, decides to try and find her. So he walks up to the highest tower, and sees the princess. He immediately falls in love with her-"

"Just by looking at her? Weird." Ron uttered.

"In fairy tales, it's like that. He just watches her, as she sleeps, and can't help but think she's the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on." Ron looked away from Hermione's eager eyes as she said this. He had immediately thought of Hermione when she said that, and was scared that Hermione would somehow realise he thought the same thing about her just by looking at him. "And he kisses her. The curse breaks, everyone wakes up, and the prince and princess get married, and live happily ever after."

Ron smiled, and then yawned. Hermione saw, and smiled. "You were right. I think I can fall asleep."

"Just being a kid helps you fall asleep, huh?" Ron grinned.

"Yeah," Hermione said fondly. After a pause, she said, "I wish we could just be regular kids."

"That's what we're fighting for, Hermione." Ron said. "And I promise you, I won't stop fighting until it's all over. I will never let anything horrible happen to you."

Tears spilled over Hermione's eyes. "Thank you Ron."

Ron reached his hand out of his sleeping bag, and put it on Hermione's shoulder, rubbing it gently. Hermione gently put her hand on Ron's, and before Ron could think she was going to get him to take it off, she grasped onto it and placed their intertwined hands between them.

"Goodnight, Ron." She whispered, as her eyes gently closed.

Ron waited until he could hear her soft, even breathing. It didn't take long until he knew she was asleep. Ron lifted their hands up to his mouth, and gently pressed his lips to them.

"Goodnight, my Sleeping Beauty."

**A/N I hope you liked this one :) I cant remember how I got the idea for this but I do remember what the idea was - Hermione telling Ron a muggle story, and Ron later calling her his Sleeping Beauty. I'd always liked the idea of Hermione telling Ron about her muggle life, and I'd laughed when Ron remarked that 'Cinderella' sounded like an illness. I love writing Ron's reactions to muggle customs, although I know that I'm not exactly a funny person, so they aren't that good. At first I'd thought about getting Hermione to tell 'Cinderella' to Ron, so that Ron would know what its actually about, but then it wouldn't go with what Ron says in the end of the story, an idea which I really liked.**

**I know Ron seems a little out of character in the end, because many of you may not think he's that sensitive and mature, but I think that at this point in Deathly Hallows, Ron and Hermione's relationship has strengthened to such a point where Ron can be sensitive and mature around Hermione, showing her a side no one else can see. I think that after dating Lavender, Ron had realised exactly what he wanted and had matured greatly.**

**Gosh, thats a long end note. Haha. :P Please review :)**

**P.S. - Does anyone want me to write a small drabble about how Ron found out Hermione likes braiding her hair? If some people would like that I'll do it.**


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